FAQ

  • What’s so special about the Bonhomie shirt?

    Our shirts blend the highest quality Italian made fabrics, genuine Mother of Pearl buttons and fine European tailoring to produce contemporary and minimal shirts. We eschew contrasting details and any form of branding to maintain this clean and unobtrusive look, and with this in mind we keep our collars trim and our cuffs slim. You’ll never find a hang loop in a Bonhomie shirt as we assume you know how to work a hanger, but few indulgent details we have allowed such as the butterfly gusset. This small dash of sartorial flair is often absent from the hem of most commercial-brand shirts as it takes time and skill to apply, but for us, this simple yet elegant addition is more than a mere afterthought – it is a statement of pure, quality craftsmanship.

  • Why do your shirts have varying prices?

    By importing all of our fabrics directly from the manufacturers and handling every step of the process ourselves, we are able to cut out the middlemen and provide you with a quality shirt at the fairest price possible. Many aspects of constructing a shirt come at a fixed cost, with prices for sewing, cutting, buttons and labels remaining relatively stable over time. However, more fluid is the price of fabric, which can vary from 15€ to almost 30€ per shirt depending on complexity of the manufacturing and dyeing process. This affects remarkably to the final price of a shirt. We want to keep our prices transparent and do not charge any extra per style. The individual price solely depends on the cost of the fabric used.

  • Where are your shirts made?

    Our shirts are designed by our team together with tailors and pattern makers in Helsinki. The final product is cut and sewn in Estonia. Even being more expensive, we prefer to keep our production in Europe, as this enables us to guarantee that our standards of quality are met in both the manufacturing process and the working conditions provided to our talented shirt-makers.

  • Are your fabrics non-allergenic or environmentally friendly?

    All our fabrics are Oekotex 100 certified, which means our shirts are safe for your skin and for the environment. As well as being chemical free, all of our fabrics have skin friendly pH to help prevent the bacterial exposure and moisture loss often caused by skin irritation from harmful dyes or chemicals used in the manufacturing process.

  • Why do you use only Italian fabrics?

    Our fabrics are sourced from the most prestigious Italian fabric mills such as Albiate, Canclini and Monti. Their expertise in the art of fine fabric making is unrivalled, and this is something we’ve confirmed for ourselves having travelled around the world for the past four years seeking the very best materials and makers. Those who stroll into the Bonhomie office will find our desks awash with thousands of fabric samples, because we know that the only way any elegant and simple design can work is if they are produced using the best possible materials available.

  • Do your shirts shrink in the wash?

    No. Our fabrics are subject to stringent quality control checks and a Bonhomie shirt will never distort nor leak a single drop of colour.  To keep a Bonhomie shirt in pristine condition we recommend washing them no higher than 40C, as higher temperatures are liable to warp even the highest quality fabrics.

  • What is the thread count of your fabrics?

    Our fabrics vary from anywhere between 50 to 120 thread counts. Each fabric we use is made in Italy from nothing but compact single yarns and long staple twisted yarns, which are in turn derived from pure Egyptian cotton and linen. We choose this count for a very specific reason, because even though a higher density may create a softer satin feel, it can also add too much silky lustre to the fabric than we prefer. Bonhomie tends to steer away from shiny dress shirt fabrics, and it is important to note that the thread count alone does not define the quality of your shirt, with the weave, ply and manufacturing process often having more of an effect on the final outcome of a garment’s perceived quality.

  • How often do you release a new product?

    Bonhomie does not follow trends or seasons like a traditional fashion brand, instead, we make timeless shirts which remain stylish for years to come. New models are typically added to our collection every few months, and on occasion, we release limited editions with weight and fabric feel depending on the time of year. If you wish to be notified when a new product is available, feel free to provide us with your email address to our newsletter list on bottom of the page in order to receive exclusive updates and announcements.

  • What are Mother of Pearl buttons?

    We only use the highest quality Mother of Pearl (MOP) shell buttons in a Bonhomie shirt. MOP buttons have a beautiful, ornate texture on the back and an elegant natural sheen on the front, and we feel this gives off the subtle sign of a fine-quality product. Cheaper shirt-makers may be able to reduce their prices by using low-cost resin buttons, but these have a tendency to look tacky and can detach easily if not taken the effort of sewing them on properly. Our special lock-stitched button process ensures this will virtually never happen to your shirts.